Red Riding Hood
Sheriff's assistant Delivery girl for Granny's Baked Goods Red's Untold Tale, Wendy Toliver, Kingswell Teen, September 2015, p. 21 Student Red's Untold Tale, Wendy Toliver, Kingswell Teen, September 2015, p. 9 |home = Oz Fairy Tale Land Witch's cottage Storybrooke Blanchard loft Werewolves' den Granny's cottage |relatives = seefamily |species = Human Aquatic creature |haircolor = Dark brown |eyecolor = Green Gold |portrayedby = Meghan Ory |firstappearance = Pilot |latestappearance = Leaving Storybrooke }} "Red" Lucas,Red's Untold Tale, Wendy Toliver, Kingswell Teen, September 2015, p. 13. PDF facsimile better known as Red Riding Hood, currently known as Ruby, and also known as Wolfie,"Ruby Slippers", Once Upon a Time, ABC. is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest starring cast member Meghan Ory. Red Riding Hood is based on the titular character and the wolf from the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood", and the wolf from the composition "Peter and the Wolf". She is also based on Rose-Red and is an allusion to the bear from the fairytale "Snow-White and Rose-Red". History During the evening, Red Riding Hood grabs hold of an idea to simply kill the wolf and get rid of the danger so she and Peter can be together. Mary is reluctant to agree but eventually agrees to help. The next day, they follow the wolf's footprints, which oddly begin turning into human tracks, and stop at Red's cottage. Stunned, they conclude Peter must be the wolf. Red meets with him in the woods to tell him the truth while Mary masquerades as her in bed. Peter believes Red's theory and agrees to be tied up in chains. However, when the full moon rises, it is she, not Peter, who shifts into a wolf. Despite Peter's frantic attempts to make her recognize him, she no longer has any sense of her human self. She tears him apart and feasts on his remains just as Mary and Widow Lucas arrive to put her out with a silver-tipped cross bolt. Then, Mary places the cloak on Red to turn her back into a human. At first, Red awakens in a disoriented state and asks where Peter is, only to catch a glimpse of what is left of him after she in wolf form did to him. While Red reels from the revelation of who she truly is, Widow Lucas urges her and Mary to leave before the hunting party arrives. Now on the run in the woods, Red and Mary flee from pursuing soldiers looking for Mary, whose real identity is Snow White, a fugitive wanted by her stepmother the Evil Queen. They evade capture, but Red notices her cloak is partially torn. In fear of shapeshifting again and possibly hurting Snow, she sends her away for the time being. Red wakes up in the morning, relieved that the cloak's magic held through, and takes it off when she goes to wash up at the stream. There, a stranger grabs her cloak and runs off. Red chases after the thief and stops him from burning her cloak. The man, Quinn, admits he is a wolf too, and takes her to a den to his leader, Anita, who confesses she is actually Red's mother and that they were separated because Widow Lucas didn't want her granddaughter growing up as a wolf. With Anita's help, Red is taught to master control of herself while in wolf form and finds her place among her own kind. When Snow White treads into the den of the wolves looking for Red, the pack is on guard until Red persuades them that Snow, despite being a human, means no harm and is her ally. Though the two women had planned on traveling together, Red regretfully states that she wants to stay with the wolf pack. Suddenly, the Queen's guards burst in looking for Snow and in the midst of the battle, Quinn is shot dead by one of the guards. Blaming Snow for Quinn's death, Anita prepares to execute the girl as retribution, but Red defends her. In wolf form, mother and daughter have a scuffle until Anita accidentally impales herself on a spike. With her last breaths of life, Anita accuses her daughter of choosing a human over her own pack, but a tearful Red asserts that she chooses herself because she is not a killer and neither is Anita. After burying her mother, Red thanks Snow for constantly supporting her as both a wolf and human. |-|Alternate Timeline= At Snow White's request, Red Riding Hood arrives at nightfall to help Prince Charles and Prince Charming break into the Queen's castle to rescue Princess Leia. Taking off her cloak, she morphs into her wolf form and attacks the soldier guarding the castle prison entrance while Charming knocks the man unconscious. Then, Hook covers her with the cloak, which restores Red to human form. As they travel further in, she hears someone approaching, but it is only Leia and another freed prisoner. Their hopes of regrouping with Snow are dashed, however, when the foursome witness her being tied to a post in the courtyard, where the Queen hurls a fireball at Snow and incinerates her. Sometime later, Charming discovers Snow escaped death by using fairy dust to transform herself into a bug. After Snow regains her human form with help from the Blue Fairy's magic, a relieved Red hugs her. At some point, Red Riding Hood begins providing food to starving villagers when she learns the Queen and her Huntsman are raiding it, and they have joined forces with Anita's former wolf pack led by Adair. As the Queen and her allies are traveling, Red assumes her wolf form to spy on them, however,the Queen immediately spots her. Mistakenly believing this wolf is part of the pack, she orders the beast to get back in line with the rest of her kind, but Red merely growls at her. Noticing the Queen is carrying a box, Red knocks it out of her hands. This attracts the attention of the other wolves, who charge at Red to exact revenge for Anita's death. Red ends up constricted in the air by the Queen's magic, but she is dropped when the Huntsman aims an arrow at an approaching Adair. While the Huntsman runs off with the box, Red snatches it from him. He tracks her down, to which a human Red threatens to kill him because of his affinity with the Queen. She drops her guard, however, upon learning the box contains his heart, which the Queen stole from the Huntsman and controls him with, which is his punishment for sparing Snow White's life. After returning the Huntsman's heart, Red learns from him that the Queen and the pack intend to hunt down Snow White, so they head to King Midas' realm. There, they join Snow and travel to Lake Onondaga to find a totem can be used to transform the shape-shifters into normal wolves, but it can be wielded by someone only once. On the way there, she and the Huntsman develop an easy rapport and share a wolf joke. Snow remarks on the pair's growing closeness, and on glimpsing the lake, she nudges Red on how romantic it looks, to which Red blushes at Snow's implication about her and the Huntsman. While the Huntsman grabs the totem, his companions hold off the wolf pack. However, Red and Snow fall into the lake as the Huntsman jumps in after them. Because of the totem’s power, all three turn into aquatic creatures. Before regaining human form, the Huntsman convinces Red to talk sense into the pack. They approach Adair, who refuses to listen and calls out the wolves. To menace the Queen, the Huntsman threatens Adair's life, but she incinerates the man herself; causing the upset wolves to attack her. As the Queen prepares to kill the pack for turning against her, Red urges the Huntsman to take Snow away while she stays behind to defend her pack. Instead, the Huntsman decides to give himself up to the Queen to ensure the wolves go unharmed. Red says she can't bear the thought of him returning his heart to the Queen, but he insists they both must bear it and assures her he can stand it as long as Red remains safe. As the Huntsman leaves, Red watches him go before turning into wolf form to allow Snow to hop on her back. Snow tells her that what Red and the Huntsman have is true love and suggests they cannot be kept apart forever. After the women make their getaway, Red returns to human form and continues traveling with Snow on foot. Snow expresses regrets for how much Red has given up for her, but the latter wants to continue protecting her in order to honor the Huntsman's wishes. Snow promises to find a way to stop the Queen so the Huntsman can remember who his heart truly belongs to. Red ponders that perhaps Snow's prince will do the same too, a sentiment Snow quietly echoes. Many weeks after, Red Riding Hood brings food with her to Snow White's secluded forest hideout. She keeps Snow up-to-date on all of the Enchanted Forest's current events, including Prince Charming's impending wedding to King Midas' daughter Abigail. Snow is uneasy over the news and longs for some magical cure to forget about Charming. Red remains quiet, which piques Snow's suspicions that she knows something. After some prodding, she tells Snow about Rumplestiltskin, a man with great powers who might be able to help her take away her love for Charming. The next day, Snow sets out to meet with Charming at King George's castle after he sends her a love letter requesting to see her. She does not return for several days, and Red comes across Charming when he arrives at Snow's hideout to look for her. Realizing Charming is searching for Snow, Red informs him that Snow never returned after she went to meet with him. She states Snow went to the castle because of her love for him, though Charming doesn't believe her. Red attests that Snow intended to confess her feelings for him unless something changed her mind. As Charming realizes King George must have forced Snow to reject him, King George and his soldiers arrive to apprehend him, but he and Red make their escape on horseback. While still on the run, Red and Charming camp out, but King George's men catch up to them once again. This time, Red insists on staying behind to buy him more time while he flees. As the soldiers approach, she rips off her cloak and shape-shifts into a wolf to attack them. Though Prince Charming eventually finds Snow White, the two are separated when he is taken as King George's prisoner. Snow enlists help from Red Riding Hood, Granny, the seven dwarves and the fairies to rescue him. They overtake the castle, but the rescue attempt is unsuccessful as Snow discovers he has already been traded to the Evil Queen, who agrees to spare Charming's life if Snow has a parlay with her on the condition she does not bring weapons. Upon learning Snow agreed to the deal, Red, Granny, and the dwarves beg her not to go, but Snow insists upon it, believing she must follow the Queen's rules if it means Charming's safe return. Shortly thereafter, they go looking for Snow and find her lifeless body. They believe her to be dead, and remain unaware she is under a Sleeping Curse. With the power of Prince Charming's kiss of true love, Snow White is revived to life. Soon after, Red Riding Hood helps the pair fight against King George in order to take back the kingdom. She alerts them to a rumored general of King George's called "The Leviathan". Their camp is soon forced into battle when the king's forces take them by surprise. As the war wages on, King George's army falls in battle. Following the capture of the Evil Queen, Red Riding Hood is one of the many war council members discussing what they should do with her. Though Snow White is against it, the final vote is to put the Queen to death for her crimes. At the public execution, Red listens to the Queen give her last words on the gallows. The Blue Fairy releases arrows to kill the Queen, but moments before they can pierce her, Snow commands for the execution to stop. Many months later, Red Riding Hood and her grandmother join in the war council yet again when Snow White and Prince Charming receive a prophecy from Rumplestiltskin about their unborn child who is the only one who can save them all in twenty-eight years. Red is present as the Blue Fairy shows the council members a magic wardrobe, which is capable of protecting one person from the curse's effects. It is decided Snow, while she is still pregnant, will be the one to go through so she can guide her daughter until twenty-eight years pass. On the day the curse is cast, Snow goes into labor and her newborn daughter is sent into the wardrobe. Shortly after, Red, along with everyone else are engulfed by the curse. }} Despite having dreams of leaving Storybrooke and move to Boston, these plans are halted by her grandmother's sudden heart attack, and Ruby has been working at the diner ever since. One day, ten years into the curse, Ruby spends the morning sleeping off a hangover, causing her to miss work that afternoon, which leaves Granny to do her granddaughter's job of putting out the diner sign. During an evening at the inn, Ruby and her grandmother are, as usual, in a middle of an argument, but fall silent when they see Emma, who is looking for a room to stay in for a week. Ruby watches the entire exchange as Emma is checked into a guest room, and also when their Mr. Gold arrives to collect the monthly rent from Granny. After he departs, Emma inquires about him, and Ruby states that he owns all of Storybrooke. While Ruby is on her shift at the diner, Regina's son Henry stops by to request a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon for Emma. Ruby hands the order to Emma at the counter and mysteriously states that she has an admirer. Emma turns around to see Sheriff Graham and assumes he is trying to flirt with her. When she goes to reject his advances, Henry acknowledges that he sent the hot chocolate, and then invites her to walk him to school. One evening, Ruby, dressed in a mini-skirt with a top showing off her stomach, passes by Dr. Whale and Mary Margaret’s diner table to go clean up a nearby table. As she clears the table, Dr. Whale begins staring at her rear end, which Mary Margaret unhappily notices. As Ruby walks past with a full tray, completely oblivious to Dr. Whale ogling her moments earlier, Mary Margaret ends her date with the doctor by asking her for the dinner bill. Noticing Emma has spilled a drink on her shirt, Ruby rushes over with a towel and directs her to the back laundry room. Once there, Emma meets a pregnant maid named Ashley and inspires change in the expectant mother's life. After stealing back adoption papers from Mr. Gold's pawnshop, Ashley desperately wishes to leave town and raise the baby herself, so Ruby lends her a car. When Emma investigates the girl’s disappearance, Ruby only states that Ashley has a stepmother and stepsisters she doesn't speak to as well as an ex-boyfriend who abandoned her while pregnant. Later, Emma returns to confront her about withholding information. Remaining silent on the issue, Ruby is finally forced to admit she lent Ashley her car to flee town. Later, Ashley is tracked down by Emma and gives birth to a healthy baby girl. When Archie and Henry become trapped in a collapsed mine, Ruby presently watches over Pongo while Emma, Regina and Sheriff Graham try to figure out a rescue plan. Later, Pongo detects Archie and Henry’s scents near an underground vent. Marco proposes lowering Emma down on a tow truck pulley so she can bring the two up to safety. Ruby assists by parking the truck close enough to where it must be for the plan to work. After Archie and Henry are lifted to safety, Ruby spends time talking to the car mechanic, Billy. While serving a somewhat drunk Sheriff Graham drinks, Ruby watches him shoot darts at a board as Sidney bets him twenty dollars that he will eventually miss. Graham, however, makes the bullseye once again and then tells Ruby that his next drink will go under Sidney's tab. Upon seeing Emma enter the diner, Ruby asks if she can get her anything. Emma declines before promptly making her way past Graham and towards the exit. When Graham throws a dart at Emma and it slams into the wall near her, Ruby is shocked by what happened and observes a tense verbal exchange between the two before Graham follows Emma out of the diner. In the aftermath of Emma saving Regina from a fire at the town hall, Ruby hails her as a hero for what she did. Granny then suggests using photos from the rescue to make campaign posters for Emma, which Archie agrees to help with by getting a photo. Sometime after withdrawing from the election, Emma finishes a drink at the diner counter and requests another one when Ruby asks if she wants more. Henry arrives to talk with Emma while Ruby is away, but the waitress returns moments later with a tray and sets down two glasses; one with Emma's drink and the other being a glass of milk for Henry. Days later, Ruby notices David and Mary Margaret seated at separate diner tables and engaging in conversation. She offers to push their tables together, but both decline the suggestion. Soon, Emma joins Mary Margaret and Ashley, who after handing off her child to Granny, pulls up a seat near them. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, Ruby suggests the four of them have a girls’ night out. Citing work business, Emma doesn’t attend, so Ruby, Ashley, and Mary Margaret spend time at the bar together. Spotting men at the counter, she coyly points them out to Ashley, who is not interested in cheating on Sean. Flirtatiously, Ruby goes over to chat with the guys. As the townspeople learn Mary Margaret has been having an affair with David, who is married to Kathryn, the so-called “other woman” is publicly shunned by them. One morning at the diner, Ruby and the other residents present are called to attention by Mary Margaret, who is asking for volunteers to help sell candles for the annual Miner’s Day celebration. After she is finished speaking, no one responds and everyone ignores her. Later that night, Ruby serves Mary Margaret, whose reputation has taken a steep dive as the town harlot, some alcohol when Leroy, the infamous town drunk, joins to ask for the same thing. Entertained by August’s stories of visiting exotic places, Ruby distractedly talks with him, though she is supposed to be working. From the diner counter, Granny calls her over, but she tries to buy herself more time with August. Impatiently, her grandmother tells her to stop flirting. Finally, Ruby stomps over and learns that Granny wants her to start handling more of the business responsibilities by working on Saturdays. Granny wishes to train her to take over the diner one day, but Ruby rejects the idea and angrily quits the job. Unable to find work elsewhere, she packs up her things and heads for the bus stop. While rebuffing Dr. Whale’s advances, Emma and Mary Margaret shoo him away and take Ruby into their apartment until she finds her footing. At the sheriff’s office, Henry goes over various job listings with Ruby, who expresses disinterest in all of them. Suddenly, the phone rings. She answers and assists Miss Ginger with an inquiry, which impresses Emma. Hired as a sheriff’s assistant, Ruby is asked by Emma to search the grounds of the Toll Bridge, where David was found after he woke up from his coma and escaped the hospital, to see if she can find anything. She ends up unearthing a box containing a human heart. The encounter traumatizes her, although Emma praises her for her skill in locating things. After quitting the assistant job, Ruby realizes she likes working at the diner and only quit because of her uncertainty about taking over the business one day. She relates these fears to Granny, who restores her self-confidence. The two reconcile, and Ruby resumes working as a waitress. Behind the diner, Ruby sees David’s missing wife, Kathryn, dirtied up and in the alley. Terrified, she screams, alerting August and Emma to her. Too shocked to fully explain who she saw, Ruby only manages to tell them that "she" in the alley. While August stays behind to help Ruby calm down, Emma goes to check. Walking alongside her grandmother on the street, Ruby suddenly recalls memories from a former life as Emma shatters the curse after giving Henry true love's kiss. }} Ruby takes charge in the aftermath of the Wraith attack, which has left the town damaged and the people shaken. The people gather in clusters at the town hall, and she directs them where to go whether they need beds or counseling. Mother Superior is helping out as well, and she mentions her concern for the townspeople in their current predicament. Ruby reassures her that their prince is working on something. Soon, David arrives but is quickly overwhelmed by everyone's questions and requests that need immediate attention. Leroy reveals, after using Mr. Clark as a test subject, that whoever crosses the town line will lose their Enchanted Forest memories. In an attempt to maintain order, David promises to regroup at the town hall in two hours' time with a plan. As the designated time rolls by, Ruby becomes concerned when David hasn't arrived yet and asks Henry to phone him, but suddenly, Regina bursts in. Having regained her magic by now, Regina uses it in a powerful display to scare the townspeople. Ruby, refusing to be intimidated, boldly asks what she wants. Henry recognizes his mother wants him to go home with her, which he grudgingly complies with in order to make her stop hurting everyone. More afraid of Regina than of losing their memories, the townspeople, decide to take the risk of leaving town, while Ruby runs into David and informs him of what happened, but he is more concerned about finding a way to Emma and Mary Margaret. She persuades him to take care of the current town dilemma since everyone desperately needs his help as soon as possible. With David, Ruby hurries with him to Storybrooke's road exit in a truck and cause a blockade to stop everyone from leaving. In a speech, David wins the residents over by helping them realize the memories of their old lives are an essential part of them and they do not have to choose between the two lives because they are both. While David and the dwarves are mining for fairy dust, which can bring Emma and Mary Margaret home if used on Jefferson's hat, Ruby carries lunch to them. On her diner work shift, she talks to Belle, who is looking for a job and place to stay. Ruby directs her to the closed library; leaving Belle to check it out on her own. A short time later, she is approached by David and Mr. Gold asking for Belle's whereabouts. At first, Ruby refuses to say anything, but with David's persuasion, she admits what transpired before and helps them track Belle using her newly rediscovered heightened smell. She loses the trail at Game of Thorns, the flower shop that Belle's father, Moe French, owns. Inside the shop, Ruby watches David and Mr. Gold question Moe, who admits he sent Belle into a mine cart and across the town border in the hopes she would lose her memories of Mr. Gold. Along with David and Mr. Gold, Ruby heads to the mines to save Belle. Much later after Belle is safe, she introduces the bookish girl to pancakes and how to eat them. She also hands Belle a small box someone left for her. On the first curse-free night, which is also wolfstime for Ruby, she is cleaning up the diner while David and the dwarves are celebrating over finding fairy dust, an ingredient. To her, Billy confesses his identity in the Enchanted Forest was Gus, a mouse who lived in Cinderella's pantry. He asks her out on a date, but she struggles for an answer, knowing that she is due to shape-shift during the night. Belle, noticing her discomfort, intervenes by telling him they are having a girls' night out. After Billy has left, Ruby notices the time and hurries to the backroom where Granny is fixing up the freezer, which Ruby will use as a cage for herself. During the night, a belligerent Albert, hell-bent on ruining David's life, releases Ruby while she is a wolf, and then kills Billy to give the appearance she did it. In the morning, Ruby wakes up in the forest as a human after a worried David and Granny discover her there. Soon, Billy's butchered body is found, and Ruby believes she is to blame. Albert rallies the townspeople against David; forcing him as sheriff to choose between "justice" or defending a friend who looks guilty. Ruby is locked in a cell for protection, but knowing the angry residents will come for her, she is later chained up in the library as Belle keeps her company. Rather than hide, Ruby Believing the townspeople's hate for her is justified, Ruby tricks Belle into letting her before chaining Belle in her place and going to face the mob. Reverting to a wolf, Ruby faces Albert as he readies his gun at her. Suddenly, David and Granny arrive with the bloody weapon as well as Ruby's magic cloak that was found in Albert's truck. With coaxing from David, Ruby allows him to place the cloak on her. Albert escapes and burns Jefferson's hat, which wipes out the only chance David had for finding his family. Despite David's anger over the destroyed hat, Ruby convinces him not to punish Albert out of vengeance. Later that night, Ruby is in the apartment as she looks to David as he watches over a sleeping Henry. David tells her that Henry may never see Emma or Mary Margaret ever again and his uncertainty about how to break the news to him. Ruby insists he won't have to, but David remains skeptical since fairy dust won't be enough and now Jefferson's hat is gone. She believes in him because she knows he never gives up until he succeeds, in addition to the fact he won't be doing it alone. On her way out, Ruby asks him to phone Granny so someone can unchain Belle from the library. She then uses up the remaining hours of wolfstime to go out for a run through the woods in wolf form. In a race against time, Emma and Mary Margaret fight to return to Storybrooke from the Enchanted Forest. However, Mr. Gold and Regina share combined fears over the possibility their nemesis, Cora, will be the one to cross into town instead. Using a wand, they take all the diamonds in the mines and convert it into fairy dust to create a life-threatening portal over the wishing well to kill anyone who attempts to enter Storybrooke. Leroy discovers the diamonds are missing and brings Ruby to the mines to show her. They go back to the pawn shop to warn Henry of their suspicion Mr. Gold and Regina are going to do something bad. With Henry, Ruby hurries to the wishing well to stop them. She tries to confront Mr. Gold, who uses magic to render her unconscious. Henry pleads with Regina to undo the portal's effects, and she believes in him enough to do so. As Emma and Mary Margaret come through the well, Ruby awakens and welcomes them home. To commemorate Mary Margaret and Emma's victorious return home, the town residents come together at a party celebration held at Granny's. Ruby is chatting with Bashful when Emma and Mary Margaret arrive. She hurries over to give affectionate hugs to both. A hush falls over the diner when David calls everyone's attention and begins making a speech expressing happiness at reuniting with his wife and daughter. Afterwards, all the party guests raise their glasses in cheer, and all except Emma are shocked when Regina walks in apologizing for her lateness. On the defense, Leroy grabs a knife and asks what she is doing here, which Emma quells by saying Regina was invited by her. With that, everyone dispenses to mingle and have fun at the party. The next day, while on a jog, Ruby encounters Archie and Regina arguing on the dock. She asks them what is going on, and Regina responds by telling her to continue on her walk, to which Ruby reluctantly runs off. Later in the day, Ruby is closing down the diner when she sees Regina enter Archie's office. The following day, Ruby is able to understand Pongo enough to know something is wrong, and she and Emma go and find Archie dead in his office. When Emma asks who could have done this, Ruby responds, "I think I know"; indicating she saw Regina the previous night. The death of Archie is announced to the rest of the townspeople after Emma seemingly finds incriminating evidence via the dream catcher of Regina as the murder. Leroy attends the funeral to listen to Mary Margaret give a eulogy dedicated to Archie. After she is finished, Marco gives his own personal farewell. Following this, Leroy, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Walter, Marco, Mother Superior, Ruby and Granny spend time in Mary Margaret's loft for a luncheon. Leroy approaches Emma and Mary Margaret to ask, on behalf of himself and other dwarves, when they will be returning to the Enchanted Forest, which perks everyone else's attention to the conversation. He is concerned about Regina being on the loose, but also about the possibility outsiders can wander into town now that the curse is lifted. Ruby agrees with Leroy, recalling her own ability to shapeshift into a wolf, and if people from the Enchanted Forest were afraid of her, then so will people in this world. Emma believes they are safe for now, but Leroy thinks that trouble will happen sooner or later. After an outsider crashes his car into the town border, he is taken the hospital for treatment. Hook and an amnesiac Belle are also taken in as patients. Ruby meets up with David, Emma, Leroy and Mary Margaret to break into the stranger's phone to learn more about him. Emma quickly discovers the outsider's name is Greg Mendell, and from looking at his phone information, he appears to be a normal person. Dr. Whale informs them that Greg is bleeding into the chest cavity, and asks Mr. Gold to use magic to fix it. Mr. Gold refuses to assist and warns them that it'd be better if they don't save the outsider because the man saw his use of magic. After much discussion, they decide to save Greg's life. After Dr. Whale leaves the room to prep for the surgery, Greg's phone rings, but no one dares to answer as the call might be traced to Storybrooke. Following Dr. Whale's sudden disappearance from the hospital, Ruby tracks him down in time to stop him from committing suicide. He shares his woes about concerning his family name, Frankenstein, and how everyone associates it with a monster. Sympathetically, she talks about her own pained past of feeling like a monster after accidentally killing her boyfriend. However, she believes both of them have a chance at new lives. Dr. Whale goes through with the surgery, which is a success. As sheriff, Emma questions Greg about the accident and learns, much to the relief of everyone else, that he was texting and driving and did not see Mr. Gold using magic. On the same night Greg ends up in Storybrooke, Belle receives a gunshot wound from Mr. Gold's nemesis, Hook, which causes the loss of her Enchanted Forest memories after she falls across the town line. In concern for her friend, Ruby visits Belle in the hospital as she is recovering from the ordeal. She explains they were once friends, which the girl does not believe. Hoping to cheer her up, Ruby gives Belle a book by her favorite author Jules Verne. Uneasily, Belle talks about the night at the town line, in which she saw Mr. Gold holding a fireball. To prevent exposure of magic, Ruby brushes off her recollection as a side effect of the hospital medication. Belle, who is frustrated no one will believe her, begins acting out. The nurse arrives to sedate her, to which Ruby asks if Belle's behavior is a common occurrence. As a reply, the nurse confirms it is because of her condition. Soon, Storybrooke is terrorized by a giant, Anton, after he is freed from Hook's ship and eats a magical mushroom to return to his massive size. However, when the mushroom’s effect wears off, he ends up clinging to keep from falling into a hole. Working together to save his life, Granny ties a rope to the back of a car and Ruby and the dwarves stabilize the rope as David scales down the concrete edges of the hole. Though distrustful of humans, Anton accepts David’s help. Afterward, they bring Anton to the diner in an effort to make him feel at home. As they talk, Ruby serves them beer at the counter. Mary Margaret says they have made this land their home since there is no way to get back to their old land. At this, Anton shows them a stem of a beanstalk that could likely grow magic beans. Attacked by Hook, an injured Mr. Gold returns to Storybrooke via a ship. With his son, Neal, Ruby also helps to steer him away from the dock towards David's truck. Emma, deciding she must protect Mr. Gold and be on the lookout for Regina's dangerous mother, Cora, asks Ruby to watch over Henry in her absence. At the diner, as Neal waits for Emma and Henry to show up, he orders something for Henry. The boy plops down into the seat at the table across from Neal, and Ruby comes over carrying a large sundae with "extra everything". She goes back to the counter to get Emma some coffee when Greg, who recently got out of the hospital, walks in. Ruby hands him his already prepared order on a separate tray but asks if he could have it to go, and she walks away to wrap it up for him. While waiting, he chats with Emma about going on a nature hike. Emma muses she thought he might have already been back to Pennsylvania by now. Ruby comes back with his bagged food just as he says Storybrooke is starting to grow on him. He thanks Ruby for her service and pays for his order. Ruby and Emma exchange a curious look after he is gone. When Pan casts his own version of the Dark Curse on the town's inhabitants, Regina intends to combat this by undoing the curse she cast. As the price of magic, the town will be wiped out and everyone in it must return to the Enchanted Forest. Ruby is not at the town line when Regina undos both her and Pan's curses, though she is presumably still in Storybrooke at this time before she is whisked back to the Enchanted Forest. }} As they depart for Sherwood Forest, Red Riding Hood talks to Snow White, expressing nostalgia at the journey being like "old times", except rather than running from Regina, they are with her. She notices the former Queen behaving listlessly, but doesn't look kindly on Regina's past actions in hurting everyone, and therefore isn't too concerned for her. Snow White, however, goes to talk to Regina. Later, out of nowhere, a flying monkey attacks, though Regina quickly disposes of the beast by turning it into a stuffed animal. In a group discussion, Belle shares knowledge about the flying monkey's origins in the land of Oz, so Regina determines the person in the palace is the Wicked Witch. A plan is set up to wait for Regina to bring the shield down and then mobilize the whole group into the palace. Once night falls, Grumpy gives the signal when he spots the dissipating barrier, meaning Regina was able to lower it, so everyone begins assembling towards their destination. Threatened by the presence of the Wicked Witch of the West, Prince Charming and Snow White learn from a witch named Glinda that only the most powerful of light magic can defeat her. Realizing their daughter, Emma, fits the bill, Snow White casts another curse in order to whisk herself as well as everyone else back to Storybrooke. Before the curse spreads, however, the Wicked Witch interferes by adding a potion into the mixture to erase everyone's memories of the last year in the Enchanted Forest. }} Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Ruby regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest. }} After the naming ceremony in the diner, Ruby stands in the diner hallway, watching everyone else from a distance. Mary Margaret, noticing her friend's forlorn demeanor, asks what is wrong. Ruby admits she feels out of place being the only kind of her species in Storybrooke, and as such, she explains having helped Tiny tend to the fields, which produced one single magic bean. She wants to use it to return to the Enchanted Forest and seek out any other existing werewolves, to which Mary Margaret gives her blessing, wanting her to be happy. On return to the Enchanted Forest, Ruby dons her red cloak and hood again, searching the land for werewolves, but she finds none of them. Growing desperate, she tries to get help from an old witch in DunBroch, but instead, the witch forces her to stay in wolf form as her guard animal. }} }} Shortly after Zelena leaves Oz, Ruby uses a tracking spell to follow her, in hopes of learning what happened to Dorothy. While in wolf form, Ruby is swept away in a cyclone to Zelena's current location, the Underworld. Just before this, in Underbrooke, Emma has a nightmare about a storm preceding the arrival of a creature who later kills her mother, Snow. When the events of the dream happen in real life, Emma and Regina knock out the creature with magic, but upon closer look, they realize the animal is Ruby in wolf form. Once Snow covers her with the red cloak, Ruby reverts to her human self. While Ruby is still unconscious, her friends help her recuperate by bringing her to the apartment. Upon waking up, she relates why she followed Zelena and her worries about Dorothy. With Snow, Emma and Regina, Ruby goes with them to confront Zelena, who is trying to use the slippers to leave the Underworld. Zelena eventually shows them, in a hand mirror, that she had placed Dorothy under a sleeping curse, and the only thing that can wake her now is true love's kiss. Regina convinces Zelena to give up the slippers, but Ruby doesn't see the point of returning to Oz if there's no one there who can wake Dorothy. However, Ruby recalls the one person Dorothy loves is her deceased Auntie Em, so the group find Auntie Em's headstone, which is neither tipped or cracked, meaning she's still in the Underworld. They then plan to have Auntie Em blow a kiss into a bottle, and for Ruby to deliver it to Dorothy in Oz. Auntie Em jumps at the chance to help Dorothy, but when she uncaps the bottle, her body dissolves into liquid, because of Hades' magical interference. When Snow suggests Ruby can give true love's kiss to Dorothy, Ruby has doubts about Dorothy reciprocating her feelings, and she is terrified of rejection. Despite these fears, Snow persuades her to try. Snow then prepares to send off David with Ruby to Oz, with David making the trip from there back to their son in Storybrooke. Instead, David has Hook take Snow's name off the headstone that Hades branded and put his on there, allowing Snow to go with Ruby. After reaching Oz, Ruby gives Dorothy true love's kiss, waking her from the curse. Dorothy explains what occurred the night of her disappearance, in which she feared losing Ruby so much that she decided to face Zelena alone, only to be cursed. The two women reconcile, with Ruby promising to always come back for her, before they kiss, as Mulan, Snow and the munchkins happily witness the blooming romance between the pair. }} Magical Ability Family Ruby}} ---- Trivia |-|Character Notes= Etymology *Violet Roberts was the one who gave Red her nickname, due to the latter's cloak being red.Red's Untold Tale, Wendy Toliver, Kingswell Teen, September 2015, pp. 155 − 156 *Red is one of very few Enchanted Forest characters to only be known by her nickname. *A ruby is a red gemstone. The word is derived from the Latin word ruber, which means "red". Character Notes *Red appears in the title card for "7:15 A.M.",File:110Title.png "Red-Handed"File:115Title.png and "Child of the Moon".File:207Title.png *Ruby appears in the title card for "Ruby Slippers".File:518Title.png *Red, like all werewolves, is immune to any weapon except silver while in the form of a werewolf. Storybook Notes *The Underworld storybook page about Dorothy and Ruby that Henry writes, says:File:518HenryText.png File:518HenryText2.png so tangible and intoxicating to her, was merely in her head. It was a thought that was too crushing to bear, not to mention that it also meant Dorothy would be doomed to lie on that dais forever. Ruby could hardly take the pressure, and suddenly she needed someone by her side to reassure her, someone who could instantly put all this turmoil into perspective. Fortunately Snow White was only a few feet away from her. Dorothy turned to her uneasily, and Snow nodded her on, as if to share a little of her own courage. You can do it, Ruby", Snow said. "Go on." was enough to bolster Ruby, who turned back ing up the courage to say something toward anyone before. But to look at Dorothy in . Ruby's eyes ew she And then she leaned down and kissed Dorothy. For her, it was the kiss of a lifetime. She felt a jolt of electricity pass from her lips to Dorothy's. And just as she was |-|Production Notes= Production Notes *The sensual depiction of Ruby in the first season, as well as the flashback scenes from "Welcome to Storybrooke", is based on the traditional fairytale of "Little Red Riding Hood", which is filled with sexual innuendos and meant to serve as a cautionary tale for young girls not to fall prey to lecherous men.Once Upon a Time - Behind the Magic, London, Titan Books, October 2013, p. 132 *According to David Anders, Ruby and Dr. Whale were originally going to be love interests after the events of "In the Name of the Brother". However, these plans were shelved once Meghan Ory left the series to star in the short-lived CBS drama Intelligence. **Meghan's schedule also changed the writers' plan to have Ruby in more episodes in Season Five. **Meghan was also supposed to appear during the sixth season, but she was unavailable. **Again, she also could not make it to appear in the series finale because of the scheduling conflicts. |-|Cultural References= ''Lost'' *When Snow White and Red Riding Hood are looking for tracks in the woods, Red says that the one they're looking for will be, "Like, eight inches across". 8 is the second Lost number. Popular Culture *Granny says to Ruby, "For another thing, Liza, you dress like a drag queen during Fleet Week", which specifically refers to real life actress Liza Minnelli. Liza is a favorite among drag queens. **Ruby shoots back, "And you dress like Norman Bates when he dresses like Norman Bates' mother"; a reference to fictional characters Norman Bates and Norma Bates from the classic horror film Psycho. *Ruby's favorite Jules Verne book is The Mysterious Island. **This is also a reference to Lost, where the main location is a mysterious island. |-|Set Notes= Props Notes *Ruby's red streaks are clip-on hair extensions. *Ruby drives a red 1975 Chevrolet Camaro.File:104TowTruck.png File:104Hey!Hey!.png *She has a red wolf key chain inside her car.File:104ItsFine.png *In Henry's storybook,File:310TheGoldenBird2.png there is an illustration of Red Riding Hood, called "When she got to the wood, she met a Wolf". It was created by the famous book illustrator Arthur Rackham and is from the 1909 fairytale collection The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (note that this illustration, and several others, are missing from the digitized edition due to missing pages). Set Dressing *A small doll plushie of Red Riding Hood sits on the shelf of Emma's nursery in the Enchanted Forest.File:101TalkToHim.png *In Henry's room, there are numerous fairytale illustrations, including several of Red Riding Hood: **"Little Red Riding Hood",File:102AnOldBook.png an illustration from 1875, from the children's book of the same name by the English artist and book illustrator Walter Crane. **An illustrationFile:104ShoeOff.png from 1862 by the French artist Gustave Doré, which depicts a scene with Red Riding Hood in bed with the wolf. This illustration was created for Les Contes de Perrault (Perrault's Fairy Tales), an 1862 edition of the seventeenth-century French author Charles Perrault's fairy tales. **"Red Riding Hood",File:122SomethingsComing.png a watercolor painting by a woman named Medusa Lemieux, from the 2009 Student Scholarship Competition at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. **Another illustration from Doré's Les Contes de Perrault,File:310DoorCloses.png where Red Riding Hood meets the wolf. *When Emma and Neal are walking down the streets of New York City to meet Tamara, the artwork Red Riding Hood by Russian artist Lora Zombie is on display in a store window.File:215OutOfTheBasement.png Costume Notes *Ruby has a ring with a wolf's head on it.File:115IDontKnow.png *At the time of Billy's death, Ruby is wearing a pair of arrowhead earrings,File:207FromMe.png a reference to Quinn, who was killed by an arrow. *Ruby has a necklace with a pendant shaped like a claw or fang.File:212HesAlive.png *One of the fans at Isaac's book signing is dressed up as Red Riding Hood.File:421WhatMattersMost.png *The pouch Ruby is wearing when she meets Mulan has motif of a wolf howling at the moon.File:509SorryAboutThat.png File:509Costume1.jpg Appearances STORYBOOKS *Red Riding Hood appears in Henry's storybook in "True North" (seen upside-down),File:109BrotherAndSisterFlipped.png File:109BrotherAndSister.png "What Happened to Frederick",File:113TakesDownPage.png "Selfless, Brave and True",File:218OpeningStorybook.png "The New Neverland", "Operation Mongoose Part 2" (seen upside-down),File:422ChangeRealityFlipped.png File:422ChangeReality.png "The Final Battle Part 1"File:621BookPage4.png and "Homecoming" (seen upside-down).File:721ApprenticeVision6Flipped.png File:721ApprenticeVision6.png *Ruby appears in the Underworld storybook in "Ruby Slippers".File:518RubySlippersPage.png **Ruby is mentioned in the Underworld storybook in "Homecoming".File:721ApprenticeVision10.png}} Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage. See also *Enchanted Cloak *Ruby's Car *Werewolves References }}de:Red Riding Hood de:Red Riding Hood es:Caperucita roja fr:Scarlett it:Cappuccetto Rosso nl:Roodkapje pl:Czerwony Kapturek pt:Chapeuzinho Vermelho ru:Красная Шапочка sr-el:Crvenkapa Category:Enchanted Forest Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Season One Characters Category:Season Two Characters Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:Season Three Characters Category:Shadow of the Queen Characters Category:Red's Untold Tale Characters